


A Life Less Lonely

by Iridium (IridiumFlames)



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Makoto Birthday Fanworks Exchange, Makoto is a Sweetheart, Minor Matsuoka Rin/Yamazaki Sousuke, Surprise Party, can you even call it angst this was like ten minutes of minor discomfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 17:50:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16748794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IridiumFlames/pseuds/Iridium
Summary: Request:I would to see a (surprise) birthday party for Makoto that's set in the new season! That's all I ask for.Haru teams up with the usual band of idiots to throw Makoto a birthday party.





	1. Let's Put the Two Introverts In Charge of Party Planning

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [2018 Makoto Birthday Fanworks Exchange!](https://makotobdayexchange.tumblr.com/) Y'all go check out the rest of the submissions at that link; this one's for [hapgen](hapgen.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Guess who’s late as shit?? It’s ME, sliding in an entire fuckign day late, I’m sincerely sorry here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me, making a scene way more dramatic and angsty than it needs to be: and i feel Rin Matsuoka in this Chili’s tonight
> 
> Also me, trying to juggle ten characters at once when four is usually my max: there is no glory without sacrifice

Sousuke sets his bag down and immediately begins bitching. “I can’t believe you expected me to get here ten minutes after you called. You do realize that I do things other than meet you for coffee, right?”

“Quit complaining,” Haru says, taking a sip from his drink. “The barista has your coffee, by the way.”

“Oh, fuck off,” he mutters as he immediately gets up again. Sousuke still got to the café pretty quickly, despite Haru’s short notice. 

He settles back into his seat with coffee, and a look that isn’t as intimidating as he intends. “You didn’t even explain what you wanted to talk about.” 

That’s a good point; it would be better for Haru to explain in person. “Have you ever read about the social habits of whales?”

Sousuke raises one eyebrow questioningly. “Not a lot, why?”

“Most whale species don’t live alone,” he continues. “It’s too dangerous, and they die quickly, not from being injured or attacked, but because they can’t find enough food on their own.” Both eyebrows have gone up now. Haru tries again. “They aren’t like other large marine animals. They’re too smart to be alone all the time, so usually whales live in pods. They have a very complex language, too, but people can’t hear it without special instruments. And not that many people can tell what they’re saying, even when they can hear it. It takes a lot of effort to understand them.”

Sousuke is looking incredibly bored. “Where are you going with this.” 

“I want to surprise Makoto for his birthday,” Haru continues, but is cut off by Sousuke’s irritated gesturing.

“How does that have anything to do with whales?! Why didn’t you just say that before?” 

“I did!” he retorts, before sighing and leaning back into the café seat. “I want to do something for Makoto to show him–” that he’s appreciated and wanted, not just by Haru but by everyone he knows, for being the most open, encouraging one out of all of them. He deserves something in return for always giving and giving, and not expecting anything back.

He summarizes. “–I want to show him that his friends like him.”

“He deserves it.” Sousuke huffs out a laugh, a small smile quirking his face. “That guy is the friendly glue holding all you idiots together.”

“You’re right,” Haru agrees, purely to see Sousuke’s reaction. “I think he really could be friends with anyone. After all, he was nice to _you._ ” 

“Oh shut up, I hate you,” Sousuke groans, with absolutely no venom. “Why am I here again?”

Haru rolls his eyes. “I hate you more, quit flirting. And we’re trying to plan his birthday party.”

“Everyone knows you and Makoto are a pair, you’re not even convincing,” he mutters, sitting up and stretching slightly in his seat. He pauses mid-stretch to turn to Haru. “Actually, does Makoto know about this? Since you’re talking to me instead of him, I’m guessing not.” 

“You’re right,” Haru admits. “I wanted– something perfect for him. A perfect party with all his friends.” 

“I’ll bring that to a stop, then,” Sousuke replies. Completely unfazed by Haru’s glare, he elaborates. “I don’t mean it the way you think. If you want it turn out the way Makoto deserves, you have to plan more than just “a perfect party.” Where are we going to fit everyone if it’s more than just you and Makoto? We can’t all fit in your apartment.”

Considering the scale of what he’s proposing, Haru blinks. This may take more work than he’d thought. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” 

“Let’s get started, then. Asahi’s going to have to know at some point, too, or he’s going to tell him.” 

Haru stops for a second, thinks about Asahi. Thinks for a single, additional second. “Good point.” 

“I know it is,” Sousuke says, reaching into his bag for a notebook. “We should start with who’s bringing what.”

***  
Half an hour later, Haru straightens out a crumpled sheet of paper stolen from Sousuke’s notebook. Sousuke’s drinking his third coffee like it’s water, which is impressive considering it’s mostly espresso and as black as his soul. He raises his eyebrows. “So what do we have?”

“One week to get everything, and see if Rei and Nagisa can come,” Haru starts. “Then, on Makoto’s birthday, I’m going to distract him on the way back from class by refusing to get off the train until it gets to the beach.” 

Sousuke hums in approval and takes a drink from his coffee. “Plausible. Keep going.” 

“This gives you enough time to meet up with Hiyori and Kisumi, who are going to help us with the decorations.” He shudders internally, but reminds himself that Makoto was right about the “show your friends you care” thing; Kisumi might be annoying, but he’s never actually done anything malicious, and he’s more reliable than he seems. Haru traces his finger along an arrowed line to the next part of their plan. “Then you all go to Akane’s café, where Asahi should be waiting with the cake. Once we’ve wasted enough time, I’ll come back to the café, where you’ll have everything set up to surprise him. Ikuya should try to meet us there. ” 

Sousuke looks at him with what might be approval. “Now that’s a better plan.”

He moves to get up, but Haru stops him. “One last thing.”

“What. I have to get going, I’ve got– Rin’s going to call in half an hour.” He’s blushing something awful, but they’ve bonded over a mutual respect for not bringing up a subject when someone clearly doesn’t feel like it. He doesn’t press where it’s not needed, so Haru doesn’t either. 

Instead, he continues with his request. “Can you tell Kisumi to hide my present? I can’t hide it at my apartment because–” 

“–because Makoto’s there all the time,” Sousuke finishes, pulling out his phone. “Yeah, sure. Let me ask him.” Sending a message, he holds the phone back up in the air with a half-amused expression. “Wait for it.” Not two seconds later, the phone dings a reply. “Stupidly fast as always.” 

He checks the phone and nods. “He’ll do it. I don’t know why you asked Kisumi, though. I moved in with him a couple months ago. It’s way cheaper than living alone.” 

“Then why couldn’t you just tell me ‘yes’ right away?” Haru narrows his eyes.

“Because you made me listen to whale facts.” Completely unaffected by Haru’s vague irritation, Sousuke gets up properly this time, and heads out of the coffee shop with only a brief wave.

“Whatever.” but Haru gathers his bag and drink feeling a little bit lighter. This might actually work.

***  
And then he gets ambushed by Makoto for the rest of next week. 

“So, if we get there late, it’s actually _more_ of a surprise–” Nagisa has only known about the party for five minutes of the video chat, and yet he’s bursting with impossible ideas for the birthday decorations, and party ideas in general. Haru slouches further into the bench outside Makoto’s class building. It may have been a bad idea to start the call with “party” before getting to the “surprise” part.

“No, that’s not how it works!” Rei budges his way onscreen with a monologue about train schedules and the virtues of promptness that Haru is completely uninterested in, so he interrupts both of them. 

“Just showing up isn’t the point, it’s everyone being together at once. You can stay with Ikuya if you get here too early. Or Sousuke can let you in, he has a key.” He’s finally managed to get both Rei and Nagisa on video chat at one time, instead of only Rei, and is about to explain that no, animatronics are not needed, where are you getting those from, Nagisa, when he hears Makoto’s voice bouncing towards him.

“Sorry I’m late! I had to ask my professor about something.” Makoto immediately notices the phone, of course. “Oh, Rei! And Nagisa, hi! How are you?” 

Rei is showing some self control, but Nagisa’s looking incredibly suspicious. “Mako-chan! Hi! We’re both doing great,” he bubbles, sounding like someone who’s about to ruin a secret. 

Haru panics. “I have to go. Don’t tell him!” he blurts, hanging up on them before anything happens.

“I was going to say hi, Haru, don’t be rude,” Makoto pouts, drooping over the back of the bench. “And don’t tell who what?”

“it’s not important.” Makoto wants to ask more, but he drops it. They both walk to the train station and everything is fine, the tiny distance between them easily patched over.

***  
“Asahi. We need the café. And I need a cake. It needs to be the best chocolate cake you can imagine. Better than any you’ve ever tasted, do you understand?” 

Asahi scoots a little further away with an odd look, holding his backpack in front of him like a shield. “Dude, chill. What are you talking about?” 

Unable to find another time when Makoto wasn’t around, Haru has Asahi cornered outside one of his classes. He takes a step away and tries again. “For Makoto’s birthday this Saturday. It’s a surprise. You can’t tell him.” 

At hearing this, he visibly relaxes, a put-upon smile forming on his face. “Oh! You could’ve just said that! There’s no need to sound all creepy about it.” He pauses for a moment before clapping his hands decisively. “I think I can help, too. We don’t bake everything for my sister’s café, she orders in all the fancier stuff. There’s no way she doesn’t know someone that can do a good job. I’ll need to ask about using the café, but it’s probably okay with her.” 

Throwing him a skeptical look, Haru pauses for a moment before conceding to his suggestion. “Fine. But not dark chocolate either. Makoto’s not Rin.” 

“What does that even meeean, oh my god,” Asahi wails, sagging over in despair. 

“Oh, hi, Asahi!” Makoto says. Wait, Makoto says? Haru turns to look at Makoto, who has apparently materialized just to foil his plans.

“One of my required classes is over here too! It’s only two times a week, though,” Makoto continues, turning round to look at both of them. “Are you staying late here? I don’t usually see you till we finish class– Haru?” Haru can’t help a curl of affection at the tiny, unconscious smile that forms when Makoto sees him, until Makoto’s own confusion hits. “I didn’t know you had a class over here, too.”

“I don’t,” Haru starts, before remembering he can’t tell him everything. “I was asking Asahi about… something.” 

“More like demanding, geez,” Asahi mumbles, but he’s quick to correct himself. “I’ll still help you out though, don’t worry!” 

“Help you with what?” 

“I’m helping him with a project about um– water rehab.” Sure, sure. Haru isn’t even taking sports medicine. Makoto, Haru, and the nervous look in Asahi’s eyes all know this. But luckily for Haru, any further questions from Makoto are cut short by his own schedule. 

“Okay… we’ll talk later then! See you after class, Haru.” A small smile that doesn’t entirely erase his frown crosses his face, and he heads off toward the labs. 

“Bye,” he replies waving to him as he heads off. Something in Haru’s stomach flops uneasily.

Asahi, however, is bouncing back and forth in place. “Ooo, this is exciting, sneaking around like this. I’ll even tell Akane-chan to keep it a secret.” 

He can’t agree. “It feels weird.” 

This seems to calm Asahi down, if only a little, and he readjusts his backpack as the bouncing subsides. “Ah, that’s true. You don’t really keep many secrets from Makoto, right?” 

“Of course not, he’s– he’s Makoto,” Haru fumbles.

“Yeah, I know,” Asahi sighs wistfully. “That’s the kind of relationship everyone admires, isn’t it?” 

His first impulse is to leave abruptly, since it’s really none of Asahi’s business. But instead, Makoto’s voice pops up in the back of his head, chiding in the kindest way. _Sometimes people say things that don’t really make sense, but as long as they sound friendly, and they’re your friend at other times, don’t take it too harshly, alright?_

So instead of griping at him, Haru looks past him out the building window, and listens to the tone instead of the words. “It doesn’t matter what relationships they admire. It’s the kind that I want.” 

***  
Haru narrows his eyes against the newest rush of freezing wind and watches a stray pile of leaves skitter into the air. He almost can’t believe he woke up for this. Apparently, this was the only time Kisumi could meet up with him, but Haru is usually in bed this late at night, and the bitter cold of the rail stop is the worst way to wake up. But for some reason he did it anyway.

The trains stop running in half an hour. Where is Kisumi, anyway? He’s about to actually use the phone part of his cellphone and wake Kisumi up himself when he hears a cheery voice yelling his name, completely at odds with the weather. 

“Haru! Over here, over here!” Haru squints. Like he could miss him, in his huge puffy jacket and ridiculous boots. 

“Is that Makoto’s present?” he says, looking inquisitively at the large box he’s carrying. 

Haru nods as he hands it over. “Yeah. Be careful with it.”

“Oh? Is it breakable?” Before he can get out more than “no,” Kisumi flips it midair and starts rattling it next to his ear. “So what is it? It’s pretty lightweight.” 

“Stop it!” he scolds, reaching to snatch it back from Kisumi, who holds it infuriatingly out of reach. “That doesn’t mean you can toss it around carelessly! Don’t be stupid,” Haru bites out, struggling on tiptoes anyway, until Kisumi resettles the box and holds it more delicately. It’s not fair that he’s tall enough for that to work. 

“Ok, ok, sorry. I guess you wouldn’t want it getting all banged up before Makoto gets it, huh?” Kisumi admits, wincing in apology as he bundles it under his arm.

“Of course not.” Haru scowls, scrunching his face up and trying to bury himself in his scarf. 

Kisumi smiles at him, less joking than he is sincere. “That’s fair. I wouldn’t want to ruin Makoto’s gift either.”

***  
But the in-between times are taken up with living, the way they always are, and it’s impossible that Makoto wouldn’t be in them. Haru goes to class with and without Makoto, but everywhere else he’s a constant, and it’s unusual, leaving him out of something when their lives have been combined for so long. And Makoto’s definitely picking up on it. Hiyori’s doing fine as expected, and Sousuke’s behaving like the impenetrable wall he always is. Kisumi and Asahi are both too thrilled with their own contributions to ruin the surprise, and even Rei and Nagisa have managed to keep silent. But Ikuya is somehow worse than him at hiding things. Despite being inscrutable half the time anyway, he freezes up whenever Makoto talks to him, before eking out a very obvious subject change, which is somehow more suspicious than not saying anything at all. Combined with how much more Haru has been texting Kisumi and Sousuke, even if it’s only because he has to, it’s impossible for Makoto to miss the sudden flood of interaction that doesn’t include him.

Eventually, the evening before the party, it gets to be a problem. Haru’s trying to end a conversation with Sousuke so he can actually finish his dinner when Makoto walks in.

“Look, I’m mostly sure Natsuya’s coming, but he can’t come with us.” Why is Haru unofficially in charge of someone who might not even come? 

“Well he can’t come with Kisumi and me, because we’ll still be in class,” Sousuke argues. “And we have to wait for Hiyori since he gets out a little later. We’re not going to get to the café in time if we wait for him too.”

Haru hears a faint slurping sound, and stops with his next bite of stir-fry halfway to his mouth. “Are you eating dinner while you’re on the phone with me?” 

The slurping grows louder before vanishing, replaced by a slightly muffled Sousuke. “It’s not like I’m doing anything important, why?”

He really shouldn’t be surprised at this point. “You’re annoying sometimes. And tell him to stay with Ikuya that night, he’s going to get there later anyway.” 

“Who’s staying with Ikuya?” Makoto questions, struggling out of his backpack and boots and wandering over to the main room.

Scrambling for something to say, he hangs up before he can think properly. Sousuke’s going to whine about that. “His brother,” Haru tells him, because it was easier than making something up. “Don’t worry about it.”

He immediately regrets his words as a perfect, adorable, ominous frown forms on Makoto’s face. Now he’s worried. 

“Haru, what’s going on? You’ve been hiding something all week.” And Haru is about to lie, but it’s going to be a weak one and– “Don’t lie to me, either,” Makoto adds– there’s no point. Makoto would see through him before he can even fake it.

But he can’t ruin Makoto’s present like that. “I can’t say,” he starts, not meeting his eyes, until he glances over to check on him and realizes Makoto is genuinely upset. Not the loud, blustery version he uses in front of friends, that isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds but gets him what he wants every time. Not the quiet, piercing anger that Haru’s only ever seen a handful of times in his life– instead he’s left with a soft sort of disappointment, and Haru would rather never swim again than cause that look.

“I’ll tell you– soon,” he offers, feeling like absolute shit.

Makoto holds his gaze for a minute, and Haru lets him, before he breaks eye contact on his own. “Ok, I believe you,” he says, with the voice of someone who’s compromising– and Haru can’t do that– not to Mako. Forgetting his dinner at the table, he rushes toward the living room into a hug. 

“I promise I’ll tell you. I just can’t right now,” he mutters, letting the cold from Makoto’s jacket soak into him. Makoto knows how Haru sometimes hugs too long, too hard, just for the weight of it, and the fact that he’s okay with that is more valuable than he can say. 

The tension that flows off Makoto’s shoulders is noticeable. He wraps his arms around Haru and settles against him, shoulder exactly the right height for Haru’s chin, fitting them back together. “Thank you.”

***  



	2. Let's Put the Extroverts in Charge of Keeping Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can’t tell I’ve shoehorned in my son Sousuke at every possible moment, and this is because he is wonderful, fight me
> 
> But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and I’ve entirely left out Rin, if I have time to rewrite this I’m going to do my best to cram him back in
> 
> Chapter 2 go

Saturday starts out gray and dreary and full of alarm clocks. Makoto yawns through a question as he reaches over Haru to turn his phone’s alarm off.

“Oh no, you slept over again, what are you going to do, Haru?” he asks, with a bad imitation of surprise and a quiet grin. 

Haru lets out a noncommittal noise, looking out the window at the cloudy sky outside. He’d rather stay here in Makoto’s nice warm bed, but he’s past the point where he’d let his selfishness overshadow responsibility. “It’s ok. I have my swim bag and backpack. I’ve already got everything for class today.” 

They both accept, without needing to talk about it, that Haru has been miraculously prepared for class every evening of the past two months, all of which he’s spent at Makoto’s, and that Makoto bought him a toothbrush after the third time it happened; that Haru wakes up to Makoto’s alarm now. They both go through the quiet routine of getting ready for the day. Haru makes them breakfast, Makoto packs their lunch.

Right before Makoto locks the door behind them, he wishes him happy birthday with a kiss and a promise. “I didn’t forget. I’ll tell you what was bothering me last night.” Haru shuffles in place on the doorstep, hoping Makoto picks up on what he’s trying to say. As always, he does.

“I trust you, Haru. Just tell me when you’re ready, alright?” Makoto leaves a kiss on Haru’s cheek, quick and sweet. He looks happier than last night, and that makes Haru feel lighter, at least.

The rest of the day is a blur of classes he doesn’t care about, and half-hearted studying for upcoming finals. He’s invested enough to want to do well, a lot more than he used to be, but today he has more important things happening. After hours of waiting while pretending to be busy, Haru gets out of class and meets Makoto, and they get on the train that goes back to their apartments

Haru can feel himself buzzing with extra energy, wishes he was wearing his jammers. Makoto isn’t oblivious to it, either. He’s already waiting for Haru to tell him something, and although he hasn’t asked, he’s practically wiggling waiting for Haru to bring it up. Finally, as the train slows to a stop at their station, Haru checks his phone one last time and sends a text to Sousuke.
    
    
    From: nanaseharuka@softbank.jp
    To: sharks0usuke@softbank.jp
    Subject: (no subject)
    i’m starting now

He gets a reply almost immediately.
    
    
    From: sharks0usuke@softbank.jp
    To: nanaseharuka@softbank.jp
    Subject: RE: (no subject)
    Ok, we’re leaving too.

Haru is not getting off the train today. 

“I’m not getting off.” 

Makoto stares blankly at him. “What?” 

Haru repeats himself. “I’m not getting off the train, you can’t make me. I’m going swimming in the ocean.” He can actually see the light leave Makoto’s eyes. Interesting.

“No, we’re getting off at our station, Haru, we have homework to start on,” he says evenly. Everything about his soft voice is absolutely dripping ‘don’t argue with me.’ 

“And I want to swim.” Haru stubbornly clings to the hand rail, watching other passengers stream around him and trying his best to look indifferent. He almost feels like laughing when he’s reminded of himself, four years ago. He’s gotten older without realizing it. 

“Haru, come on…”

But he keeps up the argument long enough to stay on the train until it’s moving past their stop, and he keeps it up all the way to the station for the beach, at which point Makoto has had enough.

“Haru.” Makoto is looking at him. He looks back, eyes wide across his death grip on the handrail. It’s a little thrilling to be arguing without consequences. The set of his jaw implies that Makoto is considering physically lifting him out of their train car, which Haru is not at all opposed to– but it would be a little rude to everyone else, and he’s trying not to do that anymore for Makoto’s sake. The doors are going to close soon and he still needs to stall, for at least a few more minutes. There’s only one solution. 

He bolts for the door. 

Makoto scrambles after him, and shit, he’s faster than he looks with that big coat and bookbag. Haru dodges through the crowd milling in front of the train doors, ignoring the trail of protests he’s leaving in his wake and cutting into the street. 

“Haruuu, don’t do this! Come back, we have to go work!” He can hear Makoto’s voice gaining on him but he’s almost to the seawall, almost, only a couple more blocks. Shit, shit, shit, shit– it’s convenient that he’s in good enough shape to do this, he thinks, skittering down the seawall stairs. He doesn’t even need to be running anymore, but right as Makoto catches up to him he runs out of land anyway, and is caught breathless right at the water’s edge, ready and willing to fall. 

“You need to tell me what’s going on, Haru.” Makoto actually looks a little pissed, that’s kind of hot– Haru shakes his head, willing himself to focus on the goal. 

He might as well tell him some of the truth. “Come to Akane’s café with me.”

Makoto blinks, not catching the connection. “What– why?” he pleads, melting right back into his usual self. “Why can’t you tell me what’s happening?” His voice is confused, and a little frustrated and sad, and Haru’s totally tired of lying to him. Fuck being secretive, he does what he wants. 

“I have something for you, for your birthday,” he starts, which isn’t a total lie. It just happens to be in Kisumi’s possession, and included as part of a surprise party. 

Makoto pauses, all traces of sadness dissolving. “What? Is that you’ve been hiding?”

“Yes,” Haru says, breaking eye contact and hoping he looks believable. “It’s waiting at the café.” 

At this Makoto’s face crumples, eyes going watery with regret. “Oh, Haru, I had no idea! I’m sorry I was so mean about it.” 

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Haru says disbelievingly, unable to remember any time Makoto was mean to him that he didn’t completely deserve. But Makoto pulls him into a kiss anyway, sweet and deep, letting it last until the waves around them break. Haru hops back towards the shore as saltwater bleeds into the soles of his shoes. 

They both look at each other, only a little dazed, until Haru’s phone buzzes and he remembers what they’re doing. “We should probably go.”

After trying in vain to shake off the sand (it doesn’t really work), they both clamber on the next train back to their neighborhood. Haru’s shoes are still wet, but being packed next to so many people on the train is quickly warming him up. He checks his phone, where he’s got several dozen messages from Sousuke; he must’ve missed those while running frantically toward the beach. Scrolling past most of the messages, he ignores all the pointless decoration-related updates until he finds what he actually needs at the bottom. Luckily the newest message was sent only a few minutes ago.
    
    
    From: sharks0usuke@softbank.jp
    To: nanaseharuka@softbank.jp
    Subject: RE: RE: (no subject)
    Ok, everyone’s here and the shit’s all set up.
    
    
    From: nanaseharuka@softbank.jp
    To: sharks0usuke@softbank.jp
    Subject: RE: RE: RE: (no subject)
    we’re on our way
    
    
    From: sharks0usuke@softbank.jp
    To: nanaseharuka@softbank.jp
    Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: (no subject)
    We’re all going to jump out when you come inside, that ok?

Haru sends over a quick agreement. It’s not until he catches Makoto’s small smile that he notices he’s crunched himself up until the phone is almost pressed against his nose; he’s been trying to hide, but maybe he’s more obvious than he thought.

***  
By the time they get to the café, it’s starting to drizzle, and the whole place is dark, even though it’s nowhere near closing time. 

Makoto’s looking nervous.“Hey Haru, I think we should just go back to the dorms,” he wavers. “It doesn’t look like it’s open.” One hand makes a little grabby motion toward Haru’s sleeve that doesn’t really land, not wanting to be scared, doing it anyway. 

“No, it’s fine,” Haru insists, continuing toward the door. He cracks it open, carefully blocking the “closed for private event” sign, and is about to walk right in with Makoto trailing behind him, when he remembers Sousuke’s message. 

Oh. It’s time to be very cruel. 

“Haru?” His words tilted up into a question, Makoto sidles closer behind him, but it’s too late– Haru shoves Makoto in front of him, straight through the open door. 

Makoto panics, scrambling against Haru’s arms in an attempt to run right back out. “Haru! What are you doing, stop it, stoppp it’s creepy–” 

“Happy birthday Makoto!” The café lights up with a flash, and in an instant it’s filled to bursting with their friends, jumping out from behind tables and countertops. The sudden blast of friendliness startles Makoto into silence, and he blinks, frozen, for a minute, until Kisumi yells “Surprise!” just in time to be late yelling it, and he stumbles out of the doorway. 

Haru takes a minute to process everything, too. The café’s normal decor is entirely hidden under bunches of garish decorations; they look very handmade, and unusually fish-themed, but as far as he can tell, almost everyone has contributed something. There’s a pile of gifts in the corner and a truly beautiful cake sitting on the countertop, topped delicately with a tiny ‘Happy Birthday’ plaque. 

Makoto spins round to gape at him. “Haru– Haru you said it was just a gift! This is– I can’t believe everyone knew about this!” 

“Sorry,” he says, neither looking or feeling particularly sorry. “It was a surprise.”

“Oh my gosh, everyone, thank you so much,” Makoto wobbles out, sounding very overwhelmed. 

“Hey, we still gotta cut the cake!” Asahi grabs Makoto and drags him further into the café, where everyone is gathered. “It’s not even a birthday party without the birthday cake.” 

A disjointed but cheery version of “Happy Birthday” follows, wrapped up by Nagisa yelling immediately as it ends. “Mako-chan gets biggest slice!”

Rei, who has put himself in charge of cutting the cake, is quick to correct him. “Unless we cut it improperly, without attention to symmetry, there shouldn’t be larger or smaller slices. Makoto-chan should get the ‘Happy Birthday’ section, though! The most fitting slice for the entire point of the celebration!”

“Ah, thank you Rei,” Makoto stammers, taking the small plate shoved into his hands. He honestly looks happy to get the first taste and Asahi is looking particularly proud of his cake-ordering.

Everyone settles into groups. Kisumi, Asahi and Natsuya are discussing something about pubs that is making Kisumi giggle and Asahi pepper in suggestions. Nagisa is effortlessly waving off Makoto’s questioning about how they managed to get here, one arm still holding a karaoke set that Rei is hovering around awkwardly. He’s clearly trying to set up without actually taking it from him, and Sousuke and Hiyori are both watching his attempts with a mildly entertained expression. Ikuya’s preoccupied with digging something out of Natsuya’s backpack without him noticing. That something turns out to be Natsuya’s credit card, which everyone figures out when a huge fried chicken delivery arrives for him. 

“It’s close enough to Christmas, right?” he says, wincing as he signs for it.

“Not really,” Haru replies, rustling through the bags for the little pack of lemons. “Too bad though, it’s already charged.” 

He’s only mildly upset, probably helped by the beer someone brought. “I’ve made it through two years of international travel with no problems, and my card is stolen by my own brother. This is true betrayal.”

Finally, Rei and Nagisa get the karaoke machine properly set up, and Asahi and Rei try to sing along to a dancey Perfume song. With a heavy emphasis on “try;” it sounds awful. But they’re clearly enjoying themselves– Sousuke catches Haru’s eye, and says many things with a single raised eyebrow. At least his suffering isn’t solitary. Eventually, everyone calms down somewhat, and after both the cake and chicken are both respectably smaller, Hiyori asks a timely question. “I don’t mean to rush things, but are we opening presents? Surely we’re not skipping that part after all this effort.” 

“Of course we’re not!” Kisumi jumps up, immediately producing Haru’s gift from some chaos void that probably follows him everywhere. “Here’s Haru’s present, Makoto!”

“No! Mine is last!” he blurts, before he can help himself. 

Everyone turns toward him, of course, and Nagisa takes the opportunity to talk shit. “Oh, so this is what it’s like in Tokyo, Haru? You really are the one who gets final say when it comes to Makoto!” 

There’s some badly hidden snickering, from no one in particular, and Haru ducks his head, his face burning. “Shut up. Just open mine last, what’s the big deal.” 

“Hey, it’s not like there aren’t enough other presents,” Sousuke interrupts. “There’s almost ten of us here anyway.” He doesn’t quite meet Haru’s eyes, but they share an instant and mutual understanding for needed subject changes. Haru mentally reminds himself to be less of a dick to Sousuke. This does distract Kisumi, though, and they open his first. Makoto happily fawns over the small pack of cat-themed stationery. Sousuke’s gift, a small but dense book on sports medicine, is gratefully accepted, and it turns out that the karaoke set was Rei and Nagisa’s combined gift. No wonder neither of them know how to use it, despite being the ones who brought it. His pile quickly grows larger with a truly unusual number of socks from Hiyori, which in his defense, do look like nice socks. Natsuya and Ikuya’s gift looks like a simple envelope, until Makoto opens it, and his mouth drops open.

“We won’t take it back, so don’t try,” Ikuya says, cutting Makoto off before he can reject the ¥10,000 neatly folded inside. “It’s from both of us.”

“You missed the gift card, too!” Natsuya adds. 

Makoto makes a helpless little noise in Natsuya’s direction as he digs into the envelope again, pulling out a card for one of the better swim supply stores. “Thank you, I– wow, that’s really a lot,” he fumbles, caught between being polite and being reasonable.

The last gift, from Asahi, is a sweater that looks perfectly normal until he points out the pattern. “Killer whales! See?” Everyone leans in to peer at the sweater, which actually does have tiny whales on it, so small that they look like chevrons from further away.

At last, they get to Haru’s gift, which is stolen back from Kisumi. It was his to start with, he’s allowed to take it again. Makoto pries it open, his expression melting as the contents are revealed. Inside the box is a plush white cat with a bright orange ribbon tied around its neck. “Aw, Haru it’s so cute!” 

“That’s not the gift, it’s still in the box,” Haru prompts. Makoto frowns and feels around in the box a little further. His gaze raises to meet Haru’s questioningly, holding up a single sheet of paper.

“It’s an adoption certificate. They have– I paid the adoption fee at Neko Repub for one of the newer cats. She still needs some medicines, but even though she lives there, she’s yours once you can take her.” He turns away, not saying the rest of what they both know. By the time Makoto can take her, he’ll have a new apartment, one that allows cats this time. One that’s meant for more than one person.

Setting the plush back in the box, Makoto leans in for a hug, forgetting for a minute that they don’t usually do that in public. His voice is wobbly as he whispers against Haru’s neck. “Thank you, Haru. For all of this.”

***  
Their journey home is delayed by a scrambled cleanup orchestrated by Asahi, who is caught oddly between bragging and nervousness. “Yeah, so I know my sister closed early so we could set this all up, but we can’t leave too much of a mess, okay? We have to be out by midnight.” 

At last, after everyone helps clean up a little, the remainder of the cake is bundled into their hands with a flurry of “oh no I couldn’t possibly” from Makoto that is overwhelmed by everyone reminding him that it’s his own birthday cake. They start the short walk back to Makoto’s apartment, gradually losing friends for the night and saying goodbyes as they split off toward their own homes. Nagisa and Rei have tagged along with Sousuke for some reason, who looks tired on a level beyond the physical. 

Although Haru’s shoes have finally dried off, it’s still chilly out. Makoto looks up at the sky, where only the wispiest of clouds have cleared to reveal a half-moon. He looks at Haru and Haru looks back, holds his gaze. His normally green eyes look almost gray under the bright moonlight. “It looks like it’s going to rain.” 

“It’s not healthy to be caught outside in the rain,” Haru says, with the total conviction of someone who’s already gotten what he wants. “Would you mind if I spent the night?”

“You know that’s just a myth, right?” Makoto adjusts the large box from Haru’s gift, which has been repurposed to hold everyone else’s, the plush cat riding on top. “You don’t actually get sick from the water, even if you’re soaking wet. You get sick because you’re not warm.” 

Haru folds one corner of the paper box, holding cake leftovers not half as sugary as the boy walking next to him. “Did you know that dolphins can survive even in subtropical water?” 

“I did, actually,” Makoto replies. He can hear him smiling. “Did you know that one of their favorite foods is mackerel?” 

Haru takes a moment to catch his breath. He loves him _so much._ “I did.”

He loves Makoto, for quietly filling in the rough spots of Haru, and teaching him the foreign language of living a life not lonely. Haru didn’t need to go to all this trouble, when Makoto would be happy with a cupcake and a hug, but he did anyway; because that’s what Makoto does. Always, when he’s had the option not to say anything, not to care, he does it anyway. And after all these years, Haru’s finally speaking back.

**Author's Note:**

> The truly implausible bit about this entire thing is that Asahi managed to get an entire café reservation and a cake order for a weekend in downtown Tokyo with only a week’s notice 
> 
> Shoutout to Hiyori for having exactly 0 social skills and thinking a shitton of socks are a good birthday gift
> 
> Did you know that orcas and dolphins are both classified as part of the same family? Shoutout to dolphins-world.com and whalefacts.org for giving me many highly romantic whale facts. Did I drop in enough metaphors about understanding someone whose language most people don’t even bother learning re: whale sounds? I think my fists could’ve been a little more honey-glazed honestly
> 
> Lemme know what y'all think, any comment is much appreciated!


End file.
